sweet disposition
by teatart
Summary: After nearly a year apart from her friends at Abigail Adams Prep, Maya Hart returns to her boarding school ready to continue her average life of making art and causing mischief only to arrive to a new school, new rules, new teachers and a new addition to her friend group that has her reeling in more ways than one.
1. no promises!

**a|n - so i know that i haven't updated 'strings' in three weeks or so but i've been a little put off by my writing for that story recently. i do plan to finish it of course since i know the ending and everything, it's just a matter of writing it but this plot bunny was just at the back of my mind for the past month and i've been wanting to write a multi-arc story for the longest time. but anyway, i hope you guys like this story. the main couple of the story will be lucas and maya though and other point of views will come in naturally if all goes to plan. i hope you guys like this! x**

* * *

 **N** othing felt better than watching the plane descend into West Chester County airport. Maybe it was seeing all the tall pine trees in full bloom for the first time in nearly a year before the fall chill got to them or possibly the fact that she could read all the signs everywhere she went from that point on. Or, and this one Maya considered was the most possible reason for her being so giddy about coming home, it was because she would finally be returning to Abigail Adams Prep.

She would get to see Riley and Isadora in person after what felt like forever and the three of them would be the little trio that they always were. It was easy since all three of them attended the same all girls boarding school. Maya remembered the day that Shawn told her that he wanted her to attend there and she briefly wondered what she did to piss him off so much.

"This isn't a punishment, Maya. It's a good school and could give you a lot of opportunities." He tried further explaining to her while she sat on the couch staring at him, blankly.

"Opportunities for what? Becoming a dropout earlier than expected?"

He ignored her like he usually did whenever she brought up being a failure or something similar and sighed before speaking again, "They have a really good art program and just are well rounded over all. I went to the affiliated all boys school, John Adams Prep with Cory when we younger and I got a scholarship for my pictures. It helped me get where I am now, Maya and it'll help you for sure." Still noticing that she looked unconvinced, he shot her a small smile and whispered,

"I heard from a little birdie that a certain purple cat loving girl will also be attending in the fall."

It was then that she was fully convinced that maybe Abigail Adams Prep wasn't as bad as she initially thought. And things seemed to be fine from then on, her and Riley moved into a dorm room that was for three people and that was where they met Isadora and the trio then formed. The school year went along without a hitch, her classes were difficult but she somehow managed to make due not to mention that her art teacher was possibly as crazy as she was about art.

That was another thing Maya mentally added to the list of things she'd missed right after Riley and Isadora and the feeling of her bed oddly enough.

But Abigail Adams Prep wasn't all smiles and giggles like some people like Riley probably thought it would be initially. The girls who attended there came from a long line of money which was basically how the social system ran there until Maya and Riley entered as freshman and Maya hit it off immediately with a senior named Francesca who could care less if Maya was very low class up until a year ago when her mother married Shawn.

There was someone who cared and she went by the name of Missy but the lack of money wasn't her main issue with Maya though she knows that it fuels her distaste. She knows that it's simply the way Maya presents herself at the school, her shirt untucked and tie hanging loose around her neck. Seeing a difference in behavior from a fellow student could be hard for people like Missy who permanently had a stick up their ass and Riley tried making Maya understand this when she was trying to convince her friend that getting along with everyone in the school would make their lives a whole lot easier because they were living on campus with those people.

Maya remembers the end of her freshman year, before her father had come and asked to spend time with her for the next year, her relationship with Missy hadn't exactly ended with them being best friends and braiding each other's hair. Yet they were at a mutual agreement that even though the two would never be close to getting along, they couldn't imagine arguing with someone else for a year.

"Excited to be back?" Her father nudged her in the taxi. They'd gotten off the plane and into the cab so quick that she hadn't realized how deep her thoughts had taken her. Solely for the sake of maintaining her laid back reputation, she gave a noncommittal shrug like she hadn't been thinking about her life at the school this whole time.

Her father rolled his eyes, "I forgot who I was talking to for a second. Are you too cool to say that you missed your friends now?"

Without missing a beat, she answered with a smirk, "I thought I was cool before I realized that I'm sitting in a car with you." He let out a loud laugh which Maya had found comforting while exploring Europe together.

"What's that supposed to mean?"

"Well, I don't usually hang around old people, ya' know?"

He reached up and clutched his chest, feigning pain, "Ouch. Now, you're using my age against me? Low blow."

Maya let a laugh slip, breaking her composure completely. If it was possible, her father's laughter grew even louder much to the dismay of the cab driver she thought once they were getting closer to her school. The phone ringing sucked away the happy mood momentarily as he shot an apologetic smile before picking up the phone and judging by the way he was rushing to end the call, Maya would guess that it was her stepmom on the other side of the phone.

They weren't unhappy, her father explained to her after he received a call from her while they were waiting in line for tickets to The Louvre. She was just hormonal because she was pregnant with her twin siblings, a boy and a girl, her father told her with an excited smile. There was a brief moment during their conversation or more her listening to him speak animatedly about how cool it was going to have twins, that she wondered if he was that excited when her mother told him she was pregnant.

Was he excited when he found out it was a girl? Did they even see the sex of the baby before the birth? Or had everything built up from that point on until he had no choice but to leave?

"Alright, I'm just gonna drop off Maya at the school and then I'll give you a call back. Okay, love you." Him hanging up pulled her back to the present once again where in a matter of a few minutes she'd be without seeing her father for who knows how long. It shouldn't be a big deal since she spent a good eight years without him before he stepped back in her life and wanted a place in it. She remembers when he had given her his phone number so she could call him whenever she wanted to talk or if she needed something.

Initially, she thought it was complete bullshit because after eight years, he was suddenly by her side all the way waiting to help her out with anything she needed. At the time, it all seemed a bit too good to be true. But one night after a week at being at the boarding school, she began to feel homesick but was too prideful to call her mother and Shawn or even tell Riley who suggest she do the former. Instead, she called her dad hoping that hearing his voice would make her feel angry at the very least so there's a change of emotion.

That wasn't the case at all though. He spoke softly to her, it was in a way she doesn't even remember him doing when he was still with her and her mother. Nevertheless, Maya felt instantly calmer just hearing him give her advice in his gentle voice. He was in no means a version of home but that night, he showed a side of himself that seemed like he genuinely wanted to help.

And she knows that after the babies are born there will be very little time for Maya to have those comforting conversations with her dad. As the taxi rushed past a boy that looked around her age with a backpack on a bright blue diamond on it with the silhouette of a stag in the middle and she found the design oddly familiar but couldn't place where she knew it from.

It took her the rest of the ride in the taxi for her to be hit with the worst memory she could have at Abigail Adams Prep.

The design was so recognizable because the color and pattern of it is similar to what the design of the Abigail Adams Prep logo which was a white diamond background and a doe in the middle and the stag version was from the affiliated school, John Adams Prep.

Even hearing the name in her head struck a deep hatred she reserved deep in her heart for the boys who went there. If she thought Missy Bradford was horrible to put up with, the boys from John Adams were ten times worse and she only had to see them for special occasions that the schools hosted where they would let both student bodies bond, like the semi-formal or prom.

And the object of her distaste for that school went by the name of Lucas Friar.

He was a cattle loving, harvest cropping piece of shit southern guy that you'd expect to come from Texas. He had the biggest ego she's ever seen and the very short times that they've met in person have gone terribly wrong because they can't stand to be around each other. It all began one night at homecoming freshman year when Maya was waiting for Riley to come back into the gym after her father called her in outrage because he hadn't told her where she was going before she left. During that time is when Lucas had sauntered up to her with all his arrogance and turned a night from alright to complete shit in a matter of two hours.

Going into detail mentally made her blood boil and she forced herself to get her act together because she was nearly done. Junior year would fly by as well as senior year and then she'll have college where there won't be time to think about trivial things like Lucas Friar.

Instead she could focus on her art and getting into a good college. Isadora would _love_ hearing her say that, she thought with a smile.

The thought of her two best friends grew when she saw the tall buildings bunched together behind the closed gate then she remembered the text that Riley had sent her before she boarded the plane.

' **text me when you're close so we can welcome you home! x'**

Maya had just finished texting her back that she was outside when she heard a familiar man's voice from the booth by the gates.

"I'm going to have to see some proof that you aren't dropping some criminal at the school's doorstep, sir. It's my duty to protect these kids so I'm _sorry_ if you have a problem with it." The man told off the cab driver who in turn rolled his eyes. A grin appeared on her face instantly as she rolled down the window to look at one of her favorite people at Abigail Adams Prep.

"I guess you won't allow me in then, huh?" She shouted to him and the officer's grew twice in size.

"Maya Hart! I didn't think I'd ever see you disturbing the peace ever again."

She shrugged with a small laugh, "Someone has to, Officer James. Can't have these kids going about obeying all the rules, now can I?"

He beamed at her before hitting the button to open the gates, "For the sake of the new faculty, I hope not. See you later, Maya." Maya was too caught up in being happy to see a familiar face that she didn't even realize the key word in what Officer James had said, she just waved back to him and her father witnessed it all with an amused look on his face.

But then the sign caught her attention as the driver zoomed past it. It usually was white with baby blue lettering spelling, "Abigail Adams Preparatory School for Girls" and the wood of the sign always looked worn no matter what angle or distance you looked at it from so Maya found it odd that when she looked at the sign, it was cobalt blue with sky blue lettering and she only caught the words, "Adams Preparatory School".

Maybe it was renovations, she dismissed the panic that had risen at seeing the sign look differently.

The car stopped at the front doors which due to Maya arriving later than everyone else to move in, allowed her her own space to move her luggage into her room because no one else was outside.

Her father and the cab driver jumped out first to get her bags while she glanced at her phone again to see if Riley had text her anything else. She didn't and Maya sighed before getting out of the cab to help wheel her suitcases towards the door. She eyed the six suitcases she had packed to go with her father and remembered thinking that she hadn't brought enough before they went.

Now lugging the initial weight of her bags plus extra souvenirs that her father had bought her while they were in Europe, Maya realized that she had made things more difficult for her future self by giving herself more room to stuff foreign crap into.

Her father handed the lightest bag to her and shot her a small smile. She could tell that he wasn't completely happy like he seemed to want to be and Maya knew why. With her stepmother being pregnant with twins, he wouldn't know when he would be able to come back and see her. The last time he'd seen his wife in person was when he was kissing her goodbye before his journey with Maya.

His new family was a priority though and she knew this, but she too felt her heart tug. Noticing this too, her father pulled her into him and whispered into her hair, "Call me if you ever need anything, Maya. I mean that. You're important to me too." If she wasn't trying to stay so composed, she would've teared up at that but she knew that Riley and Isadora would be downstairs at any moment and she didn't want to be caught crying on her first day back with them.

"I know. Tell Maggie that I hope everything goes okay with the twins."

"I will. I'm gonna miss you." He said and kissed her forehead before pulling away from her.

"I'm gonna miss you too, old man. Now, can we please stop being sappy before I get sick?"

Her joke seemed to break the somewhat tense mood like she had planned and he breathed a laugh before ruffling her hair. She tried not to scowl at him for it as he waved to her one more time then stepping into the cab. From the window that she had left open, he said,

"Don't get into any trouble, please."

As the car pulled away she made sure to shout back to him, "No promises!" For a moment, everything was quiet and she felt the absence of her father for the first time in a long time. Then that moment ended promptly when she heard a high pitched scream that belonged to the only person who would act so dramatic seeing her in person. Maya also heard footsteps that sounded like more than just two people but once again thought better of it at seeing her lanky best friend running full speed towards her.

"Maya!" Riley screamed for the third time until she finally ran into Maya and nearly knocked her over along with the suitcase. She pulled her into a bear hug and Maya wondered where Isadora was until she felt another pair of arms that were a little chubbier and shorter than Riley's, wrap around her too.

"Welcome back, Maya." Isadora mumbled into the sleeve of her shirt. The three of them stood there hugging until Isadora pulled away because her body was digging into the bag she was still holding.

"Why don't we help you with these?" Riley offered and took the bag from her while Isadora went to grab one of the bags by the steps.

Maya's eyes followed them until they landed on the three figures standing at the top of the steps, more specifically the three _boys_ who Maya knew too well. The three of them made a perfect set of morons.

Zay Babineaux, the smooth talker and clown of the group. Maya vaguely recalls him trying to flirt with a group of her classmates and succeeding since they all later argued about who he was looking at while telling the joke.

Then Farkle Minkus who most likely had the same AP level classes as Isadora because the two of them were the two smartest people she's ever met. Although, Farkle had a tendency to make sure people knew he was smart and say certain things to make sure that people knew that they weren't as smart as _him_. She would've thought he was the most arrogant out of all of them if she hadn't met the ring leader.

Which led her eyes to look at Lucas Friar who stood there casually, his eyes locked with hers as he flashed her a smile that made her stomach plummet as there was never a good reason behind a Lucas Friar smile.


	2. i invited him

**a|n - just a filler, hope you enjoy nonetheless**

* * *

 **D** id she expect Lucas Friar to do something that would ruin her day? Absolutely. He was the worst person she's ever met after all and he was standing there like he hadn't just ruined the beginning of her day simply by being in her vicinity. But his existence isn't what shook her when she stood there frozen as Isadora and Riley moved around her to grab her bags.

It was already strange when she noticed Zay and Farkle helping Riley and Isadora with her bags but then Lucas moved and grabbed one of the bigger bags from her and said, "I got it, Riles." Her eyes practically popped out of her head.

Since when did Lucas call Riley, Riles? Since when did he call Riley anything that wasn't annoying or too happy? Since when did Lucas Friar help her friends with _her_ things? She would've tried to keep her comments to herself for the sake of trying to enjoy what remained of her first day back but Lucas stopped at the middle of the steps and turned to her and told her in the most sarcastic tone, "Thanks for helping us with the bags, princess."

Her patience seemed to slip away before she could try and collect herself and she gawked, "Excuse me, _you're_ gonna give me a lecture about being helpful? You've never done anything for anyone but yourself."

"Well," Lucas took a look at his hands that held a suitcase then her empty ones, "Right now I'm holding a pretty heavy bag while _you're_ holding nothing. So, I think you're the one that's not being helpful."

He made sure to say all of this in a calm voice which whether he knew it or not, only made her angrier. Everything about him in that moment made her angry though and she only managed to take one step towards him before Riley was pulling her away from the four of them who were all gathered at the steps with her bags in hand.

"We'll catch up with you guys, later." Riley said to them quickly before taking her to the side of the building where they were out of earshot. Maya expected Riley to try and calm her down or complain along with her that Lucas Friar and his two minions didn't need to help her with anything because no one asked them to.

What she got instead was much different.

"What the hell is wrong with you?" Riley finally asked after looking around her to see if they were still there. Maya didn't look after her and didn't care to see if they were still there although the tragic thought of Isadora having to be alone with them crossed her mind before Riley began to lecture her.

"What's wrong with _me?_ What about Ranger Rick who just showed up without an invitation and assumed that he was doing me a favor?"

Riley sighed before saying, "He didn't show up just because. I invited him."

Her words didn't register with Maya at first. She must've not heard her clearly or was extremely tired and was hallucinating. There would be absolutely no reason for her to invite Lucas Friar to participate in a day that Maya had been looking forward to. It didn't make sense for her to be talking about him in a calm voice like he wasn't a complete asshole.

"Why..Why would you do that?" Maya asked because all the situations in her head didn't make sense. Riley was never into pranking her, so it wasn't possible that all of this was some sick joke.

The hostility fell from her face at seeing her friend so confused. Riley ran a hand through her hair before placing her hands on Maya's shoulders. It was almost like she was telling her to brace herself.

"Listen, Maya. There are things that changed over the year you were gone and I didn't tell you because I was afraid to. So, I don't want you to freak out when I say what I have to say." She cooed like Maya was on the brink of throwing a tantrum. Her kind gesture was doing nothing but confusing her more.

"Riley, what the hell are you talking about?"

"Lucas is our friend now, Maya." And she might've said something about her having to learn to accept it but Maya wasn't listening anymore. Everything seemed completely wrong, a friendship between Riley and Lucas sounded ridiculous.

Impossible, even.

"You're...joking, right?"

Riley exhaled deeply then replied with a simple, "No." Maya searched her face for any sign of a lie because she couldn't have been telling her the truth. Riley wasn't one to pull pranks on her the only way the world made some sort of sense was if this was a prank. Her grip tightened on Maya's shoulders so she could focus back on what they were talking about.

"It's not that big of a deal, Maya. He's-"

"Do _not_ say he's changed. This is Lucas Friar, we're talking about. The same Lucas Friar who invited Isadora to a party because he wanted her to help him cheat on a test. The same Lucas Friar that told that guy you liked freshman year that you were part of some secret cult that makes animal sacrifices. The same Lucas Friar that treated me like shit freshman year." Maya could name off more immature and horrible things he's done to the three of them freshman year, hell that whole year has been engraved in her head.

Yet Riley looked like she didn't want to hear any of it.

"He's different now, Maya. He's nicer and he's apologized like a million times to both me and Isadora. Besides, aren't you tired of having this stupid rivalry with them?" She asked tiredly.

"No! Because he never apologized to me and judging from our little spat a few minutes ago, I don't think he plans to."

"He wasn't being serious, Maya. I promise you that I wouldn't be someone's friend if they were a bad person. Just trust me on this, okay?"

Maya wanted so badly to scream, "No!". She trusted Riley with her life but something didn't sit right with hearing about Riley and Lucas being besties. For one, it made absolutely no sense and secondly, he didn't deserve to be friends with someone like Riley. She was too nice to see if people were deceitful so Maya made a mental note to show Riley who Lucas really was.

She knew that fighting Riley on Lucas' real motives now would just continue their argument and she didn't want that. But she wasn't going to let Riley and Isadora become another little game for Lucas to get a laugh out of either. It may not be that day or the next, but before the school year was up, she was going to uncover the truth, for friends' sake.

"Okay. I trust you."

Instantly, Riley's face erupted in a wide grin, "Thank gosh! I was worried that you were going to say no for a second there." She even pulled her in for a hug the second time that day.

"Nope, I don't doubt you at all. Besides, it's not like they're gonna be around us all the time since we _do_ go to different schools." For a moment, her smile fell but Riley recovered before Maya had enough time to be suspicious.

* * *

Maya's veil of ignorance faded as soon as it came. Riley's words of assurance had vanished during her time at the lounge area with her five other "friends". And something wasn't right.

It wasn't just the feeling of sitting in the same room with Lucas and his friends and being unable to call him an asshole. The journey to the lounge, where normally her, Riley and Isadora would go to hang out was a strange one. For some reason, all the boys from John Adams felt the need to walk around Abigail Adams campus.

 _Her_ campus.

Call it paranoia or just raw hatred, but she put the blame of having all of them there on Lucas. And it only took him half an hour into the six of them hanging out to realize that she was scowling at him.

"Listen, Hart. I know I look good today but I'd appreciate it if you quit staring, it's getting creepy." He said with a smile she wanted to slap off his face. Her eyes went to Riley who was chatting it up with Zay and Farkle while Isadora continued to text rapidly on her phone.

"Don't try and be cute, Friar. I know what you're up to." She said glancing at the boys sitting in _their_ lounging area. His little prank was going to blow up in his face because Maya was going to stand for more John Adams stupidity.

"Which is?" He lifted his brow in question.

She was gonna scream. He was dead set on annoying the shit out of her this school year. That was the only explanation for him playing dumb to her questioning.

"I'm waiting, Hart. What exactly am I up to?" The confusion was replaced with amused curiosity like he was waiting to hear her say a funny joke.

"Don't play stupid with me. Your idea of a joke is bringing boys from John Adams to our campus. You know that's not allowed so why try and get all of us in trouble?" There was a moment where he went back to his genuine confused face like he had _really_ had no idea what Maya was going on about. Then he breathed a laugh after a realization hit him.

"You think _I_ brought them here? Didn't you see the sign outside? Didn't Riley tell you?" And just before Maya could ask him what sign he was talking about or what Riley hadn't told her, their mutual tall friend butt into the conversation.

"Look at you two getting along. Talking like civilized human beings." Riley beamed at them like a proud parent. Had she heard what they were talking about? Was Lucas telling the truth? Was she keeping something from her?

"Can I talk to you for a second?"

Riley looked at Maya and was mildly surprised to find her looking back at her solemnly. She nodded as Maya got up to lead them towards the other side of the lounge where there were less people.

"What aren't you telling me?" Maya questioned the moment they were out of earshot.

"What do you mean?"

"What do I mean? I mean what does Lucas Friar seem to know that I don't? Our civilized conversation ended with me being confused and a little annoyed that you're keeping something else from me. So, what is it?"

A moment passed where Riley looked like she wanted to change the subject and Maya felt her patience wearing thin. They had just finished arguing about the whole Lucas ordeal and now there was _more_?

"I think we should wait until tomorrow. It's your first day back and you still need to unpack your things and go settled. You just got into the shock of having Lucas Friar as a friend."

"Okay, first of all, Lucas Friar is nowhere near a friend to me. I don't even think we're acquaintances. Now, tell me what the hell is going on here before I scream."

Riley's expression from earlier that day returned. It was one that she knew meant to brace herself because what was coming next wasn't going to be good.

"Abigail Adams Prep isn't just for girls anymore. The boys from John Adams Prep go here too," She took a deep breath and then landed the final blow, "We merged schools."


	3. you really can't say no to me

**M** aya couldn't believe what she was hearing. Their schools were _merged_? Since when? Why didn't anyone tell her until now? She was in Europe not another planet. She didn't speak after Riley called her name, asking for her to say something because she just couldn't. What could she say that wasn't already said? What could she do to what was already done? The school she had missed all this time was flooded with people she knew as the enemy. Her nemesis was a part of her friend group along with his cronies. She didn't understand what a year could really do until that moment.

Nothing was like how she left it and there wasn't anything she could do except shake her head.

"I-I'm gonna go to bed." she said lifelessly. She wasn't tired in the slightest but the thought of having to go back out there to Lucas made her nauseous. There was probably loads more that he knew about the school that she didn't. He probably had so much ammo that he could hit her with it, it would make her head spin. He did have a year to plan after all. He already one point for invading her friend group and passing himself as this half decent person that Maya knew he wasn't.

 _Yeah,_ she thought, _she definitely had to go to her room._

She moved past Riley who was still calling after her but she ignored her. She didn't want to see Riley or anyone.

* * *

Much to her surprise, neither Riley nor Isadora came to the room to convince her to come down and hang out with them. She was grateful that even though she's been gone a year and has to adapt to all these sudden changes that her friends are at least giving her this alone time to take it all in. It was easier to try and coax herself into dealing with all the changes without Lucas there.

Even thinking about him made her want to scream. She gripped the pillow she had on her stomach tighter. She had been using it earlier as a stress reliever.

It worked somewhat but there was nothing like hurting the source of her anger and frustration. She could say with upmost certainty that if her first day back was foreshadowing for the rest of her year, she was gonna end up leave again. Everything was different and everyone had changed without even letting her in on that change.

She adjusted herself in her bed and thought about all the phone conversations and video calls that she'd had between Riley and Isadora and nothing seemed amiss. Nothing screamed betrayal. Nothing seemed off about them. Most of all, there was absolutely no mention of Lucas and their newfound friendship.

Maya groaned before reaching for her phone that was beside her head. She searched her contacts until she found who she was looking for and called. She needed to vent.

"Hello?" a tired voice answered on the other line.

"How could you?! _Why_ didn't you tell me that Abigail and John Adams Prep merged?"

"Maya, I just woke up. Can't we talk about this later?"

" _Later?_ When I decide to get a ride home just to see you and mom and ask you why everyone thought to keep something so important a secret from me?"

"Don't be dramatic, Maya. I wasn't the one who decided not to tell you. Riley was the one that convinced everyone that it would be better to hear it in person rather than over the phone. She was just trying to be a good friend." Shawn sighed from the other side of the phone, no doubt annoyed at the thought of not being able to go back to sleep.

Maya didn't care about this however since it was one in the afternoon and because she was livid at the thought of Riley plotting against her, "Why would you listen to her?"

"Because she's your best friend and knows you a lot longer than I have. Besides, everyone who knows you knows how bad you are with change and I guess she was just trying not to ruin your trip with the news. Don't be mad at her for it, Maya. She was trying to let you enjoy your time with your dad. How was that, by the way?" he asked and she wanted to ignore him. She didn't want to talk about a trip with her father when she was mad at him.

"Alright, I guess I'll just have to drop out and go to a different school."

"Maya," he warned, "You're gonna be fine. You still have Riley and Isadora there, right? What's the big deal if the two schools merged? It's not like the world is gonna end." Maya resisted the urge to snap in her phone in two at his comment and took a deep breath. Shawn was blissfully ignorant of what happened with Lucas freshman year as is everyone except for Riley and Isadora who she hoped would heed her warning.

"Right, uh...I'll just talk to you later." Maya tried rushing him off the phone but he kept telling her to wait.

"Tell me about you trip." he repeated and Maya rolled her eyes. She wasn't going to tell him about her trip when all she wanted was to get back on the plane and return to Europe where everything was simpler and her friend group only consisted of Isadora and Riley.

"Bye, Shawn." she said to him while he continued to let out a stream of 'Maya, wait. Maya, wait.' She would talk to him later anyway, just not now when everything was still fresh. Not when she could still think about her last conversation to Riley before getting on her flight back to America. One thing for sure had changed about her best friend and it was her ability to lie.

Feeling even more defeated after her phone call with Shawn, Maya decided to take a walk outside of campus where she could hopefully find it easier to clear her head than locking herself in the room.

* * *

It was warm in New York, as it usually was in September. The sun was still out and there were a few students walking through grass flooded quad but Maya ignored them. Nearly all of them were either freshman or sophomores openly enjoying the beauty of campus and Maya silently envied them.

She wished more than anything that she could just walk around the quad and gawk at how green the grass was and gush about going to a school in _New York._ Instead, she made her way to some shade beside a stocky tree and put in her headphones to tune out her problems. Once she hit shuffle on her phone, she expected to be whisked away by heavy bass and meaningless lyrics, except her songs all seemed to be about friendship. She skipped one about real friends, the next about always being there for friends until finally her phone began to deal out love songs. It wasn't her ideal choice of music but the songs about partying she assumed were just not up for being played at the moment.

A sigh left her lips as she tried to get her bearings. She was not going to let Lucas Friar ruin her junior year, she was not going to spend this year thinking about him because when she was on her way back from Europe, he was the furthest thing on her mind. And it felt nice to not have his tormenting or memories of that night during freshman year constantly swirling around in her mind. What she wanted to do when she arrived was be with Riley and Isadora, spend as much time with them as she could before her time was only filled with college stuff.

Another song about love came on and Maya didn't feel like ignoring it this time as she managed to make herself think about something possibly even worse than having Lucas Friar in her friend group.

Just as she was about to skip said song about love on her phone, someone yanked her right earbud out and she turned to tell said person off but the culprit was Isadora.

Her friend's glasses had changed in the year she'd been away. They were bigger, more round and looked very trendy and vintage. Maya figured Riley had gotten to her and offered her "suggestions" for better looking glasses. They didn't look terrible, they looked very hipster and very Brooklyn but Maya felt a small pang in her heart at the nostalgia of her nerdy friend as a freshman with no sense of fashion and no willingness to accept the anyone else's thoughts on her personal style.

"Whatcha' doing?" Isadora asked her, pushing her glasses back up the bridge of her nose. Her ebony hair was pulled into a tight ponytail and she wore a light green plaid pinafore dress over a white t-shirt. _Definitely Riley's influence,_ Maya smiled to herself.

"Trying not to lose my mind. What about you?" Maya answered her, taking out the other headphone and letting the sit in her lap. Isadora took a deep breath and adjusted her position from being on her knees to sitting down beside Maya. It almost seemed like she needed to get comfortable before she continued on with what she had to say.

"Maya, you know that Riley would never do anything to hurt you, right? I definitely wouldn't either!" she added quickly then huffed like she was frustrated with what she was saying.

"I know, Isadora. Riley already gave me a brief speech when I got out of the cab with my dad."

"Well, what I have to say is different. I mean—sure, it's still about accepting Lucas, Farkle and Zay as friends but Maya. Do you trust me and Riley?" Her body was turned to face Maya and she silently wished that it wasn't. She didn't like where the conversation was going because even though she was pissed and incredibly uncomfortable with the choice her friends made while she was absent, she trusted them. They were her best friends regardless of their recently mislead choices.

Reluctantly, Maya gave her a nod.

"So, do you trust us to take care of ourselves and not let anyone walk all over us while you were gone? Do you trust us enough to know that we would never make a decision that we knew would ultimately end up hurting you? Do you trust us to be friends with good people?"

Maya bowed her head and groaned, "It's not you guys I don't trust. It's _him._ He was practically the devil's spawn when I left with my dad freshman year and now he's the best guy ever? So much so that he's friend with you and Riley and his both of you defending him to the end? I'm sure that he felt a little uncomfortable with me coming back too. He probably thought I was going to ruin his fun or something."

"Maya," Isadora grabbed her by the shoulders and shook her, "We're not asking for you to become his best friend, we're asking for you to at least give him a chance and see what we saw last year. Because trust me, I haven't forgotten about how he was freshman year and neither does Riley but it's like he became a completely different person when we were sophomores. It was like he finally realized that being a dick to people wasn't getting him anywhere at Abigail Adams, at least not with me and Riley. Just promise me that you'll give him a shot for the first month of school and if you end up hating every single moment then me and Riley will never ask the two of you to hang out at the same time. Deal?" she offered a toothy smile and held out her hand.

First _month?_ Maya gawked. A whole month of having to swallow her pride and try and be friendly with the worst person on campus? Maya knew that she could be a good actress when she wanted to be but she was doubtful of the extent of her acting abilities. Almost like Isadora could sense her about to say no, her smile widened and she leaned in closer.

"Please?" she added.

Maya knew she was going to regret it the moment she grabbed Isadora's hand but then again, this wouldn't be the first time she's done something that she regretted. Maybe not to the extent of attempting to give Lucas Friar a chance as her friend but still. How could she say no when Isadora's big brown eyes are practically begging her to say yes? The girl had a gift for persuasion.

"I guess I can give it a shot. But _only_ for a month." Maya shook her hand and nearly jumped at the sound of Isadora squealing.

"Yay! I'm gonna text Riley right now, I can't believe she was right."

"About what?"

"You really can't say no to me." Isadora beamed and pulled her phone out of the pocket of her pinafore.


	4. earth to maya!

**I** f Maya knew that agreeing to be civil with Lucas meant that Riley was going to try and butter her up, she would've considered agreeing to it a little earlier. _Especially_ if it meant that the three of them would go have breakfast without the three stooges. She would be able to have some peace before seeing Lucas and although it still made her skin crawl, she would deal with it. After all, she knew that this little game of being Isadora and Riley's friend was just that, a game. And once she had enough evidence to show her two friends, the rest of the school year would be cake and most importantly Friar free.

Something plopping on her tray knocked her back into reality where she sat at her usual lunch table with Riley and Isadora. Even though her morning started off perfectly without seeing Lucas and her friends not mentioning him, her mind wandered and thought about things that the five of them must've done together while she was in Europe. Did he sit at this lunch table too? Did he—

"Earth to Maya! Do you want my grapes or not?" Riley repeated loudly, waving her hand in Maya's face. She had to get her act together if she was gonna try spending a month with Lucas. Most importantly, she needed to take advantage of the fact that he wasn't there with them and that that was probably one of the few moments she was going to have with the two of them.

"Do you really have to ask?" she smiled at her friend sitting across from her and plopped one of the green grapes sitting in the styrofoam bowl, into her mouth. Enjoy this now, she thought to herself. Because the moment Lucas showed up with his posse and obnoxious accent, she knew she would have to start her mission to expose him as the spawn of satan he truly was.

* * *

One thing she didn't miss about Abigail Adams or just Adams Prep now, would be the annoying and impractical uniforms. Who wanted to wear a skirt, knee highs, flats, a blazer, dress shirt and tie? Certainly not Maya, who was just a few minutes from ripping the stupid blazer off and untucking her shirt. Looking around the hallway, now that she was alone after Riley and Isadora went to their respective classes, she knew she could take it off, but what if she passed by a security guard or the receptionist? She'd surely get a dress code violation she wasn't really in the mood to get. She was too busy enjoying not seeing Lucas.

Remembering that she had art first and Ms. Kossal never did care about dress code, she quickened her pace until she got to her class. Once she got inside, she saw the classroom set up a bit differently. The paint that usually stacked up in a cluttered mess by the door on a paint stained shelf was now lined up on a stainless steel cart that looked a lot more expensive than the shelf. The art class was usually separated into two sides where people painted but was now together forming a circle with stools creating the frame of said circle and a sketchbook sitting on a black easel directly in front of them.

Maya smiled at that, at least the new school was giving them more supplies. Her smile didn't last though because the door she just walked in from opened again and in came a man wearing a black button down and slacks and an overly cheery grin. It startled her and rushed her to take a seat next to Sarah who looked unfazed by this strangely happy man.

"Hello class, welcome back! I hope you all had a wonderful summer, I'm Mr. Jackson and will be teaching Art Theory I. Now, if you're in the wrong class, I would suggest you run over to where you're actually supposed to be otherwise you're in for a lot of sketching and scrapping." he joked and the class chuckled. Was she missing something? Where was Ms. Kossal? She was the only art teacher in Abigail Adams as sad as that sounded. It was a small program that she helped keep afloat and she wasn't teaching it anymore?

Mr. Jackson went on to talk about the syllabus and how the rest of the year was going to go in the class. His smile fell as he started to explain and he finally started to look like a teacher that hated their life like the rest of the Abigail Adams staff. Except Ms. Kossal who still hadn't made an appearance and had yet to be mentioned by someone in the class.

Not wanting Mr. Jackson's attention on her on the first day, she nudged Sarah from her stool in the circle and asked, "What happened to Ms. Kossal? Is she teaching a different class?"

Sarah looked at her, almost with pity. Similar to how most people were looking at her now that she missed a whole school year. It was beginning to irritate her.

"Maybe at a different school." Sarah muttered back to her. Maya's eyes immediately shot open. Ms. Kossal _quit_? Were they not paying her enough? Did some gross teacher try putting their hands on her? Dozens of things came to mind at the thought of running into the pervert that made Ms. Kossal quit.

"Did something happen to her? Did someone do something?"

Sarah shook her head, "Not directly. Since they merged schools, they had to let some faculty go. They decided that having Mr. Jackson teach would be a better option than Ms. Kossal." Sarah whispered back to her like she was telling her the weather. They _fired_ Ms. Kossal?

" _What?_ " Maya said a little louder than she meant to. Instantly, Mr. Jackson stopped speaking and his eyes found hers as they just peeked over the easel and sketchbook.

"Do you have anything to add, Ms.?" he lingered on the ms and Maya responded reluctantly, "Hart." His eyes grew wide as if he recognized her from a picture or an old story.

" _Maya_ Hart? Well, I've heard a lot about you. You're the one who vandalized a teacher's car because they gave your friend a low grade?" she clenched her hand into a fist but the memory wasn't what bothered her. Mr. DeGrazia deserved the big D she carved into the side of his black BMW. It made him look over Isadora's grade and realize that instead of giving her a bad grade to prove a point to the class about studying, giving her the grade she deserved would have the same effect.

She crossed her arms over her chest, "I wouldn't have to if he did his job properly." instead of his facing falling and him being afraid of her, he smiled big again and started laughing.

"Ah, Maya. You're much more complex than you come across through stories." he said and wiped a tear from the corner of his eye with his finger.

"Thanks?"

Mr. Jackson took her confused thank you as an assured one and told her, "I look forward to the rest of the semester." and then he continued to speak about the work expected for the course. Maya wanted to taunt him, curse at him for making Ms. Kossal lose her job but all she could do was clench her fist and look at the smiley man animatedly talking about their future assignments and work load.

[*]

The rest of her classes were similar to art though no other teacher felt like challenging Maya as much as Mr. Jackson did. Although she did have these thoughts before walking into her second to last class, the class she was looking forward to more than art that morning when she got her schedule.

It was the class she had with both Riley and Isadora. English. Not that she liked the subject all that much but it was the only time she had with the two of them since Lucas wouldn't be there but once again, the moment she walked into the classroom, she realized she spoke too soon. Not only was Missy in the class along with her own little clique of minions but Farkle was there with the rest of his posse and ring leader. To top it off, he was sitting in the seat behind Riley. The seat that _she_ usually sat in.

She already had enough of the day and the teachers and Ms. Kossal not working there that she didn't stop herself from going to the desk he sat at and slamming her palms on top of it to get his attention. Turning his head up to look at her, he shot her a small smile and waved, "Hey, Maya."

Ignoring him she said, "Up. That's my seat." she even hit the desk again for him to better understand that she wasn't messing around.

"Maya." Riley called her name but Maya ignored her.

"But...this is my seat." Farkle argued weakly. Maya rolled her eyes and tried to keep the anger and frustration she had built up over her day not all unleash itself on Farkle but he was making it incredibly difficult.

" _Your_ seat? Since when? When he told you to sit there?" her eyes found the puppet master in all of this, sitting in a seat next to him. Lucas had his feet propped up on the desk and a lollipop in his mouth that Maya silently hoped he choked on. He returned her gaze and scoffed.

"You really must be losing it, Hart. I didn't tell him to do anything."

"Maya." Riley called again just as Maya leant forward on Farkle's desk, lessening the gap between her and Lucas. The classroom that had been lively and loud when Maya walked in had noticeably gotten quieter. If Maya wasn't so keen on strangling Lucas, she probably would've listened to Riley and stopped. But the bastard was looking at her like _she_ was the one that was wrong. Was she not supposed to be mad that Farkle was in her seat? It's like everything changed at this school and there was nothing left of what she used to love about it.

"You obviously must've told him something, huckleberry. I know these two," she gestured from Farkle to Zay who was sitting on the other side of him, chatting to Isadora, "are at your beck and call."

"I'd like to interject for a second and say—" Farkle began but Maya cut him off.

"I really can't believe you, are you that dedicated to ruining this school for me? Was freshman year not enough for you? Seriously, there isn't a moment where you stop being an asshole." Maya raised her voice and couldn't hide the cracking in it at the end of her sentence. She just wanted to sit in her seat and for the day to be over. She was so busy wallowing in her self pity that she missed Lucas get up from his chair, lollipop still in his mouth and spin her around to face the teacher's desk.

His breath brushed past her ear as he whispered, "Just like there isn't a moment where you shut up and listen. The seats are assigned—" the sound of heels clicking against the marble floor snatched the attention away from the two of them and towards the front of the class. There was a woman with all gray hair and slightly hunched posture. She wore a powder blue button down and a black midi skirt. She didn't look that much older but the all over gray gave it the effect that she was practically ancient. It was either that or the glare she was shooting at Maya and Lucas, the only two who were out of their seats.

"Good morning, everyone. Now that vacation is over, I hope that mindset is long gone and that you'll get down to work. You two," she nodded in their direction, "what are you doing out of your seats? Was a seating chart too hard to decipher?"

Maya blames the shock of Lucas suddenly smiling and appearing to be a decent person for her sudden voice disappearance. He shot his picture perfect smile at the old woman at the front and let go of Maya, "No, ma'am. I found my seat just fine." then he sat back down, leaving Maya to have the old woman's attention all to herself.

"Well? Were you not able to read the seating chart?"

"I—"

"She didn't know there was a seating chart, Mrs. Hurtley. She just came back from a break and—" Riley interjected when Maya came up with nothing.

"Excuse me? Are you her lawyer?" The woman lifted one thin eyebrow at Riley as if her speaking seemed like the ultimate form of disrespect. It was that look that she gave Riley that snapped Maya back to her senses.

"Hey lady, don't yell at her when I know you wanna yell at me. I didn't know about the stupid seating chart, so I didn't know where to sit." Mrs. Hurtley went from being extremely offended to mildly irritated in a matter of moments. She took a deep breath and picked up the seating chart from the top of her desk. She made sure to make eye contact with Maya before telling her her seat.

"Maya Hart? You're gonna be behind Charlie Gardner, over there." she pointed with her wrinkly old manicured finger towards the back of the classroom which Maya wouldn't have been opposed to if the way she was pointing wasn't the exact row that Lucas was in.

"You've got to be fucking kidding me." she meant to say under her breath. Apparently the day was not only full of surprises but quick tempers.

"Did you have something to say, Maya?"

"No, Mrs. Hurtley."

"Good, so if you would be so kind as to hurry to your seat, I may actually be able to go over the complete syllabus before the period is over." Maya rolled her eyes once her back was turned and made her way over to her row. Even though she was trying to keep her eyes trained on the empty seat, they couldn't help but wander over to the cowboy who was now going to be two seats in front of her for the rest of the year.

She found him smiling and swallowed all the profanities she wanted to shout at him for finding the whole ordeal amusing.


	5. kiss my ass, billy

**M** aya hated every moment spent in that English class. Not only was she close enough to see Lucas being a smug bastard whenever Mrs. Hurtley called on her to answer a question she didn't know but she was also far enough away from him that she wasn't able to ring his neck. Most of all, Riley was at a perfect distance to miss all the tormenting so she didn't even have a solid excuse to complain about him once the bell rang to dismiss them.

At the sound of the abrupt ringing, Maya shot out of her seat, hoping to avoid spending any more unnecessary time near Lucas Friar and praying that her last class wouldn't be as shitty as the ones before it.

"Maya! Wait up!" Riley called from behind her and though she didn't slow down, Riley's long legs were able to catch up quicker than she expected, "Are you in a hurry?" she asked and Maya took a breath she wished would calm her down.

"I'm in a hurry to get as far away from that asshole as possible." Maya huffed.

"Lucas was only trying to tell you that there was assigned seating so that you didn't make a scene. Look, I'm sorry that I didn't tell you about the assigned seating thing but it really just depends on which teacher feels like obeying that rule. You just kind of have to make sure to check if there's a seating chart on the teacher's desk if they're not there to tell you that you can sit anywhere."

"Since when did we even _need_ assigned seating, Riley?!"

"Since the principals thought, it would be easier to integrate the two schools that way," she answered carefully like Maya would snap if she heard the news too quickly.

"I'm getting a headache. Please tell me that our next class has a teacher I recognize." Maya said more to herself than to Riley and completely missed the smile her friend was trying to hide. The two of them walked into their last class of the day, Riley going before Maya and heading to her seat while casually greeting the teacher in the room.

Maya stopped in the doorway and almost screamed, the curly hair and Riley's nose, it was like the universe had heard her cry for help and sent him to save her.

"Matthews!" she ran to him until she crashed into his chest. He let out a soft 'hmph' but hugged her back all the same.

"Welcome back, Maya."

She pulled away and yanked at his white button down shirt, shaking him as she whined, "Why did they change everything at school, Matthews? Why did they merge and make everything worse than it already was? Why do we have assigned seating?"

"It's not that bad, Maya. Everyone was a little shaken up about it last year but they got used to it and I'm sure with time you'll get used to it too."

"No, I won't," she hit his chest, "I have the devil for an English teacher and they fired Ms. Kossal."

"She's being dramatic," Riley said from her seat in the front.

"I _am_ not. You saw her Riley, not to mention that I'm only a few chairs away from Ranger Rick."

"Who?" Cory asked his daughter.

"Lucas," she replied.

"Oh. Maya, you'll be fine. It's only the first day and everything seems a bit harder the first time you encounter it. Now, go sit in your assigned seat." Cory said, pulling away from her. She jerked her head up at him in time to catch his mischievous smile.

"I forgot you were a comedian, Matthews," Maya said sarcastically before making her way to her usual seat behind Riley.

* * *

History class with Cory was just as Maya remembered it to be, various life lessons that were translated through textbooks and through Cory's seemingly neverending wisdom. The subject was never Maya's favorite but after the day she had, it seemed heaven sent, for one she had a teacher she knew and recognized and lastly Lucas Friar was nowhere to be seen in that class which already made it a contender for her favorite.

Although the sanctuary of Cory's class could only last so long, once the bell rang, Maya's stomach panged with anxiety at the thought of what Riley was going to drag her into doing now that classes were over. Usually, it was them and Isadora hanging out in the lounge area where most students hung out and they would talk about their day, watch whatever cheesy CW show was on the big TV or even play pool. This time was different because Maya knew that no matter what, _he_ would be there. He was part of their group and she made an agreement to join said group without complaints about him.

Still, that didn't mean her plan to expose him for the terrible person he really is inside was just going to go away. Isadora and Riley had fallen for whatever ideal person he had become to get into their circle while she was away but that was all going to change. Ideally, within the month she had to spend around him would be nice because otherwise, she would have to voluntarily put herself through spending time with him so this meant she had to get the ball rolling as soon as possible.

And since he had gotten up today and decided to make her look like a complete ass in front of their new English teacher on the first day, Maya had no hesitations about investigating that day.

Except when Riley and Maya arrived in the lounge area, only Farkle was there with Isadora who was adamantly texting on her phone. Strange, seeing as she was the one who used to tell her and Riley that technology would eventually be our downfall if we continuously depend on it.

Nevertheless, where was he? Where was Zay? Did the two of them come as a package and leave Farkle behind? Did that asshole purposely leave Farkle out of something because out of the three of them he's less inclined to do something terrible compared to them? He really has no loyalty, the nerve on this guy, honestly. He's just as disgusting as Maya remember—

"Hey, where's Lucas?" Riley asked in the middle of Maya mentally badmouthing him. Farkle who was sat down with his head back and eyes closed, sat up straighter and gave Riley a look as if she was supposed to know where he was.

"Where else? He's at football practice. Zay went for moral support."

"And because he's the unofficial water boy." Isadora chimed in, her eyes still trained on her phone. Riley took a seat beside her and Maya next to Riley. So, the idiot was at football practice. Why did she imagine he wouldn't follow the high school cliche?

"You didn't feel like joining them, Farkle?" Maya asked, hoping to seem genuinely curious about what they're doing. She's supposed to be making an effort after all.

Farkle's eyes almost bulged out of his head as he let out a dry laugh, "Me? Absolutely not, the thought of having to watch a bunch of sweaty football players smash into fake foam players seems like a complete waste of time. I still go to the games though, at least those are a little more mentally stimulating."

"You still fall asleep at the games though," Isadora said and Farkle glared at her.

"Smackle!"

She grinned while her thumbs floated around her phone screen typing out something quickly and sending it before she looked up at him, "What? It's true. You always have to ask me and Riley what you missed because you know Zay will judge you if he finds out you weren't paying attention and Lucas will feel guilty for making you come to the games when he _knows_ you don't like them,"

"I do too like the games. And I'll have you know that I pay full attention when we go to Lucas' games!"

"Oh yeah?" Isadora taunted and turned her body toward him, her phone still clutched in her hands, "What position does he play?"

"That...doesn't matter. What matters is that I'm there being supportive!"

" _Right._ Being supportive in your dreams, maybe." Isadora laughed. The two began to argue again over how Farkle doesn't pay attention when they attend any games' Lucas plays, whether that be in football or baseball because _of course_ he does both, Maya thought with an eye roll. And as much as she'd love to watch Isadora tease Farkle because Maya never sees her tease _anyone._ But she had to get a move on.

"Hey, Riles," Maya whispered to her friend who was also watching the two of them go at it with an amused expression on her face. She turned, making the brown hair that was sitting on her shoulder fall down her back and nodded, "Yeah?"

"I think I'm gonna head upstairs, my head really hurts after the long day I've had. I'll see you later." Maya said, she even held her head to make it seem more believable but Riley lifting a questioning brow reminded Maya why she stuck to painting and not acting.

"You're going back to the room? You wouldn't be going somewhere else, right?"

"Riles, where else would I be going? You and Isadora are right here."

Riley nodded as if she understood but she still looked Maya up and down like she would be able to find her lying by the way she was sitting or by the way she was looking back at her, "Alright. I'll see you later." Maya tried to contain her excitement until she was out of the lounge and outside where she could properly gather her thoughts. She needed to find some dirt on Lucas but where was she going to find that?

She's assuming that with all these new rules that the boys' dorms are off limits to girls so going into his room was off limits. Besides, if the door was locked which it most likely was, she didn't have the key and had no way to subtly ask Farkle for it seeing as she's never been inside the boys' dorms. Hell, if she was being honest she didn't even know where it would be or if it even existed. She knew practically nothing about the school now but was somehow meant to find stuff about Lucas on campus.

The only thing she knew for sure at the moment was where Lucas was and that was at practice. A thought immediately came to mind that she wondered if it was completely crazy and out there and off limits but really had no choice if she had to really think about it. If she snuck down to where the football team was having tryouts, she could see if Lucas brought his bag with him which would surely have some sort of info, maybe she could try getting into his phone and finding stuff out? Not that she knew how to hack into phones but anything was better than standing around wishing Lucas to hell, so off she went.

* * *

When Maya got to the field, she could hear two distinct noises. The sound of the coach blowing the whistle while the team ran suicide sprints and Zay cheering for Lucas even though all he was doing was running back and forth. Maya rolled her eyes, sports culture would always baffle her, the friendship between the two of them surprised her even more though.

She always wondered how someone as upbeat as Zay could be friends with someone as evil as Lucas and even wondered if behind all that cheer was a similar person. Though her thoughts were interrupted when suddenly Zay looked over in her direction at the end of the bleachers and almost blew her whole cover. She quickly ducked and made her way under the bleachers towards the locker rooms, making sure to avoid being anywhere near Zay or the rest of the football team.

Unsurprisingly, when she got into the locker room, the heavy smell of sweat hit her first followed by the realization that she would have to snoop into each of the gym bags that were in the locker room until she found his. Maybe if she found his backpack which was a generic black color, she could—

The sight of it sitting in front of the locker that was in the center, she ran toward it, careful to not trip over the bags of the other football players until she got her hands on it.

Opening it, she felt almost sweet relief to find his cell phone sitting inside. That was bound to have the most information if she was just able to get it open. Maya hit the home button and the screen came to life, she fell short on a passcode at the sight of his lockscreen. The image gave truth to the thoughts that had manifested in her head ever since she found out that Lucas and his cronies had invaded her friendship group. The photo had shocked her so much that she almost didn't hear the sounds of the locker room door opening and the chorus of rowdy football players enter.

 _Almost._ She jolted up, clutching his phone in one hand while the other one flung his bag away from her like it was contaminated. Short on time, Maya ran to a locker she prayed was unlocked and to her relief it was, she stepped inside and shut it just as one of the football players she recognized from Quincy Adams rounded the corner. Through the vent in the locker, she could see the legs of whoever stepped in front of the locker which she realized that she really couldn't tell who was in front of it or walking past it, she just knew how tight she felt in the locker and how much she would _love_ to leave.

"Yo, Coach is gonna be on my ass all season if I don't get my shit together with Mr. Terry," she heard a voice that sounded like Brandon Garcia say in the locker room.

"He's gonna be on all of us if you don't get your shit together. What is Mr. Terry teaching anyway? Whole numbers? Multiplication?" another voice asked mockingly. The pang of something heavy hitting the locker next to hers almost made Maya jump and she quickly covered her mouth to keep from screaming.

"Kiss my ass, Billy. You know you're just jealous because you know who is in my class. And I'm gonna do what I do best," this caused a chorus of whistling from the other football players. Maya rolled her eyes.

"If you're talking about Missy Bradford, I'll be the one to break the news to you. She's not into dudes."

"I'm not talking about Missy Bradford, dumbass. I'm talking about...actually you'll see. I think I've outdone myself this time. Anyone want to try guessing? Lucas?" Brandon prompted. It was almost nauseating the way they were talking about girls in their class. She shouldn't have been surprised though since Brandon was a bigger fuckboy than Lucas and any other male at school. His reputation really spoke volumes about his personality.

"I think I'd rather do literally anything else than guess which girl you're trying to hook up with in your math class," Lucas said coldly and Maya felt like applauding him. At least when he wasn't being an ass, he had a brain and was smart enough to not participate in whatever Brandon was trying to do.

"Seriously, bro. That's gross." Billy added.

"Oh really? I didn't see you acting like talking about girls was gross when you were talking about how good Maya looked when she came back from break," Brandon defended and hit him with his jersey.

"Was I wrong?" Billy asked the rest of the team and they all began speaking in what sounded like a mutual agreement that would've flattered Maya if she wasn't hiding in the locker room and mildly disgusted that she's the subject of locker conversation.

"Someone seems to think so," a voice called out that Maya couldn't recognize, "He didn't seem to feel that way freshman year." Another voice answered the first and then all of them seemed to be talking all at once. Maya wished that the damn vent wasn't pointing downward so she could see his face and see who was talking and what they meant by him feeling differently freshman year? Was he attracted to her freshman year? For how long? Are they just trying to mess with him?

"Hey ladies! Hurry up and get changed! I need your asses out of there before the soccer team comes for practice," The booming voice of their coach echoed in the locker room and put a halt to whatever conversations were going on after the comment to Lucas. A few minutes and the sound of zippers closing in a hurried motion, the football team filed out of the locker room still talking all at once though Maya heard Lucas ask who took his phone and let out a sigh of relief that he didn't check any lockers for it.

Maya hit the home button to look at the home screen again, this time taking all of it in. It was the five of them all huddled up on the red stairs in Times Square. Isadora had brown highlights in her hair that Maya remembered Isadora telling her that she regretted during Facetime. She had a close-lipped smile on her face as she was squished in the middle and was locked in a bear hug by Zay who had a wide grin on his face. Lucas who was the one taking a picture was in front of Riley who had her arm around both him and Farkle, the three of them smiling almost identical bright smiles. Her heart tightened as the screen faded to black.


End file.
